Using the widely revered experimental Holga camera, this course will explore capturing natural light portraits of people, objects, and Pacific Northwest landscapes in black-and-white medium format film. Larger than standard 35-millimeter film, medium format (60-millimeter) offers what some people consider richer and often more detailed, or even surreal imagery. Students will learn basic image composure and exposure, natural lighting for portraiture using reflectors and diffusers, camera use, film development, and be given a crash course in darkroom printing in the state-of-the-art campus facilities.
While embarking on several field trips to local beaches and natural areas, students will also be given the opportunity to use other film or digital cameras they own and want to bring to class for additional learning. This class will be rooted in technical theory using the exposure triangle, studies of factors on depth of field and image quality, and an overview of the rule of thirds, but will retain a playful and experimental quality, as is the unpredictable nature of analog photography. Field trip terrain will be mild, but students should still expect that they may encounter uneven ground (such as on a beach).
This course will give students and community members the opportunity to collect images of nature as well as family and friends while answering the following questions: How do you best photograph a waterfall? How do portraits vary from other images? How do you build organic rapport with subjects while managing the technical aspects of the camera? The course will focus primarily on experiential hands-on instruction in the outdoors and the darkroom and will culminate in two final diptych series prints made using the campus’ state-of-the-art darkroom facilities. Nature enthusiasts welcome.
Students and community members will also complete a proficiency that enables continued access to the darkroom facilities after the course concludes.
Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:
4 - Photography: Medium Format Film
Registration
Academic Details
Commercial and Fine Art Photography, Portrait Photography, Landscape Photography.
$130 fee covers use of Darkroom Facilities ($50), photographic paper and film ($50), and day trip costs to national parks ($30).